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Hi Guys... I was thinking of doing a double top for volume on my guitar but wasn't sure of doing that would interfere with how the braces affect the sound... If it helps to know; I was going to use Ladder bracing (blues is my focus). If it doesn't affect the tone a lot, then some thicknesses for the laminations would be wonderful, (it will be used with very light strings, if this helps)

Thanks! Parker Craine ~~

I didn't build any double but I have tried to extract info from the written sources and also exchanging mail with several builders. In a nutshell, a good double plate should end up with a sensibly better stiffness to weight ratio when compared to a solid plate of even the finest quality wood. And then you can use whatever bracing you are comfortable with from your solid builds. If the plate feels stiffer, not just lighter, trim the braces. I think it should basically work the same as with solid wood.

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Build log

I think ladder braces will give you good results. go light....

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

I am just finishing my first double top classical guitar. I had the same questions as you and it's tough to get any definitive answers I think because the technique is still so new. I always build Torres 7 brace fan patterns and so after building the double top it felt so stiff it was like it didn't need bracing at all! But I know of course it did. I have and old Manuel Contreras guitar with a 5 brace fan that I like and so I figured what the heck, I'll do that.

I still need to let the finish cure and polish the guitar out but so far the sound box is very lively and I think I will have a nice, if not for anything unique, guitar.

I think a double top guitar would be fine structurally speaking with a ladder bracing.

thank you this is very helpful, but i was much more curious about the tone, does your guitar tonally resemble the other 5 fan bracing guitar?

I plan on polishing out this guitar next weekend and maybe have it strung up by the new year so I don't know yet how it compares.

Most luthiers over brace double-tops. On the Dammann guitars that I have examined the bracing is very light. The last one I saw had 5 parallel braces equally spaced. The no.1 and no.5 braces were about 1mm high and about 6-7mm wide. No. 2 and no. 4 braces were a little taller, around 3-4mm high. The no.3 middle brace was just a tad higher, maybe 4-5mm high.

Another key is the saddle string height. This you should know before you build the guitar since it is one of the most important and first steps in building a guitar. This step helps determine the bracing and soundboard selection and final thickness. Something that is rarely ever taught. On Dammann guitars I have examined, the saddle string height is around 11mm for the first string and 12mm for the sixth string. Not quite as high as the 12-14mm height you usually see on Fleta's. The soundboard after about a year will cave in slightly. This is part of the design and not a defect according to Matthias during one of our discussions. It is one of the ways he gets his tone. The bridge is set back slightly longer to compensate for this concave movement of the top. I think he told me he sets them back about 3-3.5mm so that the bridge will move forward when the top caves in. So after about a year when the tops settles the intonation improves.